Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking

Posts: 4,310

First half 16th century

Note the cute sea-horse shaped snap serpentine of the smallest mechanism, which belongs to a small Landsknecht type harquebus in my collection that was most probably made in Brescia, Val Trompia, Northern Italy, in about 1520. I will post that gun later.

The one in the middle is a snap matchlock of Nuremberg make, ca. 1540.

The one at the bottom is North Italian, ca. 1550, retaining its original finely wrought tiller trigger. It also highly unusual in having a safety catch: a wing nut can be turned to block the sear inside the lockplate!

Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking

Posts: 4,310

Mid 17th century matchlock mechanisms retaining all of their orignal blueing!!!

Extremely rare to find! This is the way they looked like when handed out to the musketeers almost 400 years ago, who - of course, soon scrubbed off the blueing.

The image of three illustrates the comparison between the earliest known complete matchlock mechanism in existence, ca. 1510-15 (defined as all parts being mounted on a common plate - you may remember this from a previous post here), its snap serpentine released by the push button projecting out of the rear end of the plate (on top).

Most people would hardly notice any significant differences between this 500 year old ancestor and the two blued mechanisms below, the first Suhl, ca. 1640, the second Swedish, 1650's. 150 years of developmemt and yet they look almost all the same; even the size of the lockplate did not considerably change. Simple and reliable simultaneously, it was almost perfect from the start. That's why it used to dominate the battle fields for about 300 years, starting from its most primitive beginnings in the early 15th century (please cf. my post on the earliest known handgun in existence) till its most recent examples built in the 1720's.

Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking

Posts: 4,310

Richard,

All of these mechanisms are from military guns.

Actually, the snap matchlock, or snap tinderlock, was preferred for both hunting and target shooting guns but saw also extensive "service" in fighting.

The first matchlocks in the early 15th century were sear locks activated by pressing a long trigger bar upward which caused the serpentine to move towards the touch hole and return to its original position after the shot had rung out. From early to mid 16th century, the snap matchlock was peferred for military purposes, triggered by a horizontally working push button. In around 1530 we find the first snap tinderlocks activated by means of a "conventional" trigger. Sear locks, however, never came out of military use, and around the 1550's we often see both mechanisms combined, most probably in order to have another igniting system in reserve. E.g., if the match holder failed or the match had gone out, a piece of tinder in the snap cock (which was a real cock because it had to be cocked) could be lit. A complicated and intricate procedure, no doubt.

In fact, in some instances we find double matchlock mechanisms on wall guns up to the end of the 16th century. The tinder snaplock, though, had long since made its way as an additional or reserve mechanism on wheel-locks from the 1530's. This snap or sear matchlock-wheel-lock combinations were highly favorized from ca. 1550 to 1600, then seem to have diappeared from the battlefields for the period of the Thirty Years War, only to face a renaissance in the 1660's/70's. By then, the flintlock had begun taking over from the wheel-lock - and again we find wheel-lock-flintlock (extremely rare) and sear matchlock-flintlock combinations on the same lockplate for a couple of years.
It seems that the "new" ignition system respectively was not quite trusted to work reliably on its own in its early years.

- a sear matchlock/flintlock combination, Suhl, ca. 1666 (the famous Montecuccoli system), both in my collection

plus:
a highly unusual dummy wheel-lock mechanism, ca. 1565, which really is a snap matchlock in that it never had a wheel and chain! (in my collection). At first sight, it has the appearance of a high tech wheel-lock but is really a simple snap matchlock.

Thank you for the wonderful pictures and very detailed explanation on the use of snapping locks.
I knew the snap-lock was used for target work, but had large gaps where military and sporting use was concerned.

I have only seen one other matchlock dressed up as a wheellock, and find this fascinating and somehow understandably "human"...(A desire to appear of a higher status than where one actually belongs!)

As you know Michael, I do love playing about building archaic guns and such, and your incredible photographs are a real inspiration, ...but I don't try and 'forge' originals!
I can't thank you enough for the time you have taken to share these pictures with us!

Thanks for my forum share of that dark beer, Michael.
It is an honour to be in the same place as you and your collection, supported by such skilled knowledge.
With all that you have for sharing, you will allways be willkommen.

Please keep sending us photos of these fascinating arms! I know it is an awful lot of work, taking the pictures, selecting the appropriate ones, etc, and all I can offer in exchange is thanks!
If I were in a position to own an original, I think I would spend many hours sitting holding it, contemplating the first owner, and the so-different world he belonged to!
Such arms are a window to this other age....and maybe even a door, if one were to take a similar arm into the woods and fields and become thoroughly conversant with the every-day workings and peculiarities of such an arm....In other words, we could "remember" things long lost simply by 'doing', and live to some degree, a lifetime beyond our own.

Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking

Posts: 4,310

Richard,

I fully agree with what you said about old weapons being our window, and even door, to periods and people long forgotten.

Sometimes I feel just the same, especially when handling such highly important historical pieces like my 1481 Munich haquebut barrel. This piece comes from the collection of the Veste (castle) Oberhaus in Passau/Eastern Bavaria, bordering on Austria, where rivaling parties fired at each other at a short fight before the election of new archbishop in 1482. Just imagine my barrel being fired from the high castle down at the citizens! And, as is the case with my fine haquebut/wall gun from the Kronburg: I am only the second or third owner of these two pieces in their 500 years of history!

It's a very special way of being simultaneously happy, humble and grateful, just sort of bowing down before the people that made and handled these pieces. Nothing is left of their bones but we can admire their weapons still ...

A very nice lock and in just about 'as new' condition!
was it ever fitted to a gun?
The notch in the pan for the touch-hole looks very narrow, and made me wonder if it had ever been fitted or not.
It is a lock roughly similar to this, that I thought may have been originally fitted to the two harquebus' from the Tower.

Looking again at the dummy wheellock above in this thread, I must say an awful lot of work went into it. It is a very nice lock!
I see the pan withdraws when fired via a link inside.

All best wishes,

Richard.

I have just been looking at the dummy wheel-lock again.

Do I see stains inside the lock-plate where a longer spring was once fitted? also, I see a cut-out for the wheel.
I was just wondering, with the quality of work here, Do you think this was originally a true wheellock, and when it broke down, converted more cheaply to a matchlock?
An interesting lock!

Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking

Posts: 4,310

Good morning, Richard,

The blued matchlock mechanism in as new condition belongs to a gun which is not in my collection. I just took it off for the pictures. You will see the complete guns with this kind of lock later on.

The dummy wheel-lock in fact never had a wheel mounted, and there never was a U shaped mainspring. The pan is not cut out for a wheel and there are no other screw holes than those with the screws present.

Thank you for the reply.
I am surprised the dummy wheellock was made that way. I have never seen one before with such nice internals, inc. engraved spring!
It shows that at this time, the old matchlock was not looked down on, as something inferior.

Re. the Styrian wall guns, a few things surprise me;
The barrels look to be of high quality, Very well finished!.....something not always seen at this early date.
More surprising to me, is the use of a conventional trigger and guard!
(When we think that sear locks were being made for about 100 years after this time, and many snap locks were still using the button on the lock-plate, or an early unguarded trigger.)
It is interesting to see the trigger and guard off-set, so as to make the reach shorter on the heavy, thick stock.
Also. this is the first time I have seen this simple method of tightening the jaws of the cock on the tinder. .....Very simple! I would like to try making an arrangement like this!
Looking at these pictures, I started to itch to give these guns a 'drink' of oil!....they look a bit dry and thisty.

Graz looks like a place to not miss if I ever get to that part of the world!
I could be los in there for hours...days!

A detached mechanism for an arquebus, retaining its long tiller trigger acting on the forward match serpentine while the rear snap tinder cock is released by a lateral push button.
Length of lock plate 21 cm.

On the fore end of the lock plate, right underneath the foot of the serpentine, a small Nuremberg city proof mark is struck - please see detail image.

Both the cock and dog (serpentine) retaining a piece of tinder and match cord respectively and of corse both served the same pan alternatively.

Sold October 5, 2009, Hermann Historica, Munich, at a hammer price of 1,500 euro.